Russia Leads Global Wealth Inequality – 110 People Own 35 Percent Of Wealth: Report
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Global wealth has risen by 68 percent over the past 10 years, according to the 2013 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report released on Wednesday, but the level of inequality remains high as the richest 1 percent still own 46 percent of global wealth, with the top 10 percent claiming 86 percent.
Global wealth has risen by 68 percent over the past 10 years, according to the 2013 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report released on Wednesday, but the level of inequality remains high as the richest 1 percent still own 46 percent of global wealth, with the top 10 percent claiming 86 percent.
Credit Suisse found that the average global wealth was now at $51,600 per adult; forecasting total global wealth to jump by 40 percent from $241 trillion today to $334 trillion by 2018.
The richest nations, with wealth per adult of more than $100,000, were concentrated in North America, Western Europe as well as the rich Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern countries.
The Swiss were the world’s richest people, with average adult wealth of close to $513,000, followed by Australia ($403,000), Norway ($380,000) and Luxembourg ($315,000).
Additionally, since mid-2012, the number of millionaires worldwide has risen by nearly two million, with the vast majority of new millionaires from the United States.
On the other end of the scale, the bottom 50 percent of the world’s population owned less than 1 percent of total wealth, while two thirds of adults had assets worth less than $10,000 or just 3 percent of global wealth.
Credit Suisse attributed the increase in global wealth to renewed global economic growth, as well as rising population levels in emerging nations.
“Despite the continuing challenges posed by the economic environment, the underlying factors this year have been broadly positive for global household wealth,” said the report.
[quote]“However, a person needs at least $75,000 to be a member of the top 10 percent of global wealth holders, and $753,000 to belong to the top 1 percent.”[/quote]Related: Infographic: The World’s 25 Richest Billionaires
Related: Why Inequality Will Only Lead To Our Downfall: Nouriel Roubini
Related: Inequality In Retrospective – The Hidden Effects Of The Income Gap: Raghuram Rajan
Credit Suisse also found that Russia, with a population of 139 million, had the highest wealth inequality in the world, barring for a few Caribbean islands.
In Russia, just 110 people own 35 percent of the country’s wealth, according to Credit Suisse. To put that into context, worldwide there is 1 billionaire for every $170 billion in household wealth; but in Russia, there is 1 billionaire for every $11 billion.
“There were hopes (after the collapse of the Soviet Union) that Russia would convert to a high skilled, high income economy with strong social protection programs,” the report noted. But, “this is almost a parody of what happened in practice.”
“Efforts were made at the outset to distribute state assets equitably: most of the housing stock was given away to residents and shares in Gazprom were allocated to Russian citizens.
[quote]“But other choice assets in resource-rich companies went to the chosen few, and subsequent developments in a nation notorious for weak institutions have reinforced the importance of political connections rather than entrepreneurial talent,” the report added.[/quote]Download The 2013 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report Here
